Alma Russell Letters
Letters of British Columbia men on active service with Canadian and British Expeditionary Forces, 1914-1918. Learn more.
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We have been in trenches now 10 days. Did 8 days in firing line, and this our 2nd. day in reserve trenches (about 700 yards from firing line). But 24 days is far too long for any battalion to be in trenches off the reel.
Our largest spell hitherto, I think, was 15 days.
I am writing this in a dugout at night by the aid of a candle dimly burning. Sometimes the candle slips off my bayonet (stuck in a cleft of the chalk wall) which interrupts the flow of my eloquence, or is it garrulousity? I should take a leaf from the book of one of our neglected Poets Tom Moore :–
“Better far to be in utter darkness lying
Than to be blestwith light and see
That light forever flying.”
A more welcome interruption this time – the Sergeant with the nightly ration of rum. The Jamaica has warmed the cockles of my heart as it was an extra large issue this time.
Up in the firing line our trench was 80 yards from the German trench. But our advance posts. (saps running out from firing line towards germans) were only 40 yards from germans where “C” Co. was, they were only 10 yards where germans were. On the first night we were in, the german bombers attacked this post. Our bombers replied and a regular battle ensued. Our boys threw over hundreds of bombs and drove them out of their sap. They had absolutely no fight in them when our bombers had finished with them.
Our platoon had about 11 new men, our share of a draft of men just arrived from Falkirk to reinforce our new depleted battalion. Of these, eleven, how many men do you think entered trenches? only three, the long continuous marches absolutely knocked up the others.
We were so short of men (our platoon) that on entering firing line
BC Archives, MS-1901 Box 1 File 5 / RUSSELL, Alma M., 1873 - 1964. Victoria; librarian. / Letters and associated items from Private Jack A. Gunn, 1915 - 1916.